Turkey-Syria earthquakes: conspiracists falsely blame US research station for temblors

Some social media users cited flashes of light before the quake as evidence they were artificially generated by the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Programme

Scientists have for years been refuting claims that the Alaska facility is a US-backed project to weaponise the atmosphere

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Damaged buildings in earthquake-ravaged Hatay, Turkey. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 1:45pm, 18 Feb 2023

Conspiracy theories about a US research station have resurged, with social media users falsely blaming it for the Turkey-Syria earthquakes, following debunked claims it causes weather disasters and spreads the coronavirus.

Scientists have for years been refuting claims that the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Programme (HAARP), with its Alaska facility boasting 180 radio antennae, is a US government-backed programme to weaponise the atmosphere and subjugate the population.

The series of earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing tens of thousands of people, gave rise to a new variant of the theory on social media in various languages.

It has been dismissed by experts as science fiction.

Some users cited flashes of light before the quake as evidence they were artificially generated by HAARP.

Some claimed it was to punish Turkey for resisting the admission of new member countries to Nato.

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